COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Statehouse lawmaker said Ohio’s public universities should be banned from asking prospective students their preferred pronouns because it could indicate political ideology.

House Bill 686 received a hearing in the Ohio House Higher Education Committee on Nov. 20, and would prohibit Ohio’s 14 public universities from using “any application for student admission that asks for, or contains a field in which an applicant may indicate, an applicant’s preferred gender pronouns.” Rep. Gail Pavliga (R-Portage County), the bill’s primary sponsor, argued asking for pronoun usage “distinguishes groups based on their political ideology.”

“I have spoken to multiple Republican young adults, and they have told me that they would not include any answer on potential pronoun fields if asked on an application,” said Pavliga during the hearing. “Those who do not respond to the pronoun prompt are much more likely to lean right on a political spectrum and those who do answer the prompt are much more likely to lean left on a political spectrum.”

However, Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) argued during the hearing that such questionnaires can be helpful and noted she often receives mail addressed to her as “Mr. Piccolantonio.” The lawmaker said she doesn’t “appreciate when correspondence is addressed to me in a way that doesn’t actually match my gender identity.”

Pavliga said the bill is meant to rid higher education of bias and argued there is no need for a university to require this information given “it provides no indication of [a student’s college] readiness.” The lawmaker noted that the legislation allows for universities to ask applicants’ pronouns at any other time.

Ohio State University and a dozen other public Ohio universities allow students to apply through the Common App, an online portal students can use to apply to multiple institutions. The portal includes an optional pronoun question where applicants can pick she/her, he/him, they/them or write in their own pronouns.

Pavliga said those universities who utilize the Common App should “request for the field to be deactivated for their institution.” The legislation would also ban these Ohio institutions from asking any applicant for employment their pronouns.

Some Ohio universities, like Bowling Green State University, have added a question to their Common App application that asks a student’s gender identity. The University of Cincinnati asks whether the prospective student is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Pavliga said there “is a strong reality” applicants could be declined admission based on if they complete such questionnaires.

“Should it be in the institutions purview to filter through applicants based on political belief?” asked Pavliga during the hearing. “I believe that is an absolute abuse of power and an abuse on state funds.”

Pavliga introduced the bill after several lawsuits have advanced in Ohio dealing with pronoun use in schools. A former Ohio middle school teacher alleged in a 2022 lawsuit she was told to resign for refusing to address two transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled in August that forcing the teacher to use students’ preferred names amounts to “compelled speech.” However, the court also decided the case must still go to trial to determine whether the First Amendment protects her unwillingness to call the trans students by their preferred names.

Judges on the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected in July an argument by a national organization that claimed a central Ohio school district violated First Amendment rights by barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In a 2023 complaint, the nonprofit cited the district’s policy against misgendering, the act of referring to another person by using pronouns that do not align with their gender identity.

H.B. 686 could receive additional hearings in the House Higher Education Committee open for public testimony.